Video: Can 'smart gun' technology save lives?

Guns that would recognize their owner would stop stolen guns from being a threat

By PoliceOne staff

Developers are racing each other to build the next innovation in weapons: a gun that will only fire for its owner. Some prototypes require the handler to wear a ring or bracelet that interacts with the gun, while others have grip recognition.

Jonathon Mossberg, for example, created the iGun, which will only fire if the handler is wearing an onyx, waterproof ring that identifies the person, according to NPR.

Similarly, the TriggerSmart prototype uses radio frequency IDs (RFID) which can be located in a bracelet, ring, or even under your skin.

"It's about the size of a grain of rice," McNamara said of the tag. "It's that small, and they just inject it under the skin."

A team at the New Jersey Institute of Technology is working on a gun that recognizes your grip, according to the article.

"While you're pulling the trigger, you are applying a dynamically changing pattern of pressures onto that stock of that gun, and that's what is actually individual to you and reproducible shot after shot," said Donald Sebastion, co-developer of the prototype.